Counter-attacking counterfeit parts

Indeed, counterfeit “incidents” as so defined by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry & Security are on the rise, jumping from 3,868 in 2005 to 9,356 by 2008 – an increase of more than 140%.

The problem is so pervasive that counterfeit parts are even finding their way into the U.S. military’s supply chain; an issue the U.S. Senate’s armed services committee, chaired by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), addressed late last year.

Bill Cariello(at right),manager of web strategy/operations for SAE International, said this new portal is designed to be what he calls “an information clearing house” for manufacturers and engineers trying to cope with the counterfeit parts challenge – aggregating news, articles, opinion pieces, blogs, and regulatory and legislative information related to the topic.

As noted earlier, counterfeit parts aren't just a problem in private industry, as the aforementioned armed services committee has documented 1,800 cases of counterfeit parts finding their way into weapon systems – cases involving over a million parts – in a two year period, with 70% of those parts traced back to China.

In addition to the portal, SAE International and TTI, Inc. are working together to present the first-ever SAE 2012 Counterfeit Parts Avoidance Symposium, which will be held Friday, November 2, this yearin Phoenix, AZ – a meeting that aims to find ways to help mitigate the growing counterfeit parts problem.

[Truck component suppliers, like Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, have been at this for a while and continue to share information such as what’s present in the video below to help customers spot and avoid buying counterfeit parts.]

The battle against counterfeit parts, of course, is long-term in nature and won’t be won tomorrow. But maybe with more resources being added to the fray – such as SAE’s new web portal – carriers can better protect themselves from being hoodwinked by knockoffs.